New Delhi:
A 12-member Indian Rugby Sevens men's squad was announced for the Commonwealth Games to be held from October 3 to14.
India will be participating in the quadrennial event for the first time ever, since the sport became part of the CWG in 1998 at Kuala Lumpur.
Nasser Hussain will lead the side in the competition, which consists of three players each from Delhi and Mumbai, and two each from Ahmednagar and Bangalore, Rugby India said in a release.
"We are really looking forward to see our team taking on the best in the world.
This squad of 12 has been picked based on their performance over the course of the last two years from around 30 core probables. The entire Indian Rugby family wishes them all the best," Aga Hussain, vice-president of Rugby India, said.
"We have an amazing set of players in the squad who have been working really hard and we are all excited about playing against the big teams in Rugby. Everyone in the team has been working really hard on skill and fitness so that we can give the top teams good competition," said skipper Nasser Hussain.
The Indian ruggers have been grouped with Wales, South Africa and Tonga in the event to be held on October 11 and 12 at the Delhi University ground.
It would be a tough task for the Indians, ranked 73rd out of 95 rugby playing nations, to even get past the group stage as only one team will make it to the semifinals and South Africa and Wales are both among top sides in the world.
Indian squad: Nasser Hussain (C), Amit Lochab, Rohaan Sethna, Hrishikesh Pendse, Gautam Dagar, Deepak Dagar, Sujai Lama, Surinder Singh, Thimmaiah Mandanda, Kayrus Unwala, Puneet Krishnamoorthy.